(d) Any surplus property may be sold or leased to States, political subdivisions thereof, or tax-supported institutions at discounts not to exceed 50 per centum of the sale or lease market value thereof, as the case may be.

(e) The benefits of subsections (c) and (d) of this section may in the discretion of the Administrator be extended to charitable and eleemosynary institutions and other nonprofit organizations.

DISPOSITION BY OWNING AGENCY

SEC. 13. (a) Any owning agency may dispose of any property for the purpose of war production or authorize any contractor with such agency or subcontractor thereunder to retain or dispose of any contractor inventories for the purpose of war production, subject only to the regulations of the Administrator with respect to price policies.

(b) Subject to subsection (c) of this section, and to the provisions of section 19, any owning agency may dispose of

(1) any property which is damaged or worn beyond economical repair; (2) any waste, salvage, scrap, or other similar items;

(3) any physical products of industrial, research, agricultural, or livestock operations, or of any public works construction or maintenance project, carried on by such agency;

(4) any contractor inventory in its control; and

(5) any other class or type of surplus property designated by the Administrator.

(c) The Administrator shall have the responsibility for reviewing the disposal actions and the decisions with respect to the classification of property of the owning agencies under this section to assure the fulfillment of the objectives and policies of this Act and whenever he finds it necessary he shall restrict by regulation or rescind the authority of any owning agency to dispose of any class of surplus property under subsection (b) of this section.

POLICIES GOVERNING DISPOSITION

SEC. 14. In formulating regulations to govern the care and handling and disposition of surplus property under this Act, the Administrator shall be guided by the objectives stated in section 1 of this Act, and shall give effect to the following policies to the extent feasible, and in the public interest.

(a) To facilitate transfers of surplus property of one Government agency to other Government agencies for their use.

(b) To afford public, governmental, educational, charitable, and eleemosynary institutions and cooperative organizations an opportunity to fulfill their legitimate needs.

(c) To afford former owners of surplus real property acquired by the Government an opportunity to reacquire such property.

(d) To effectuate the objective of this Act to aid honorably discharged veterans to establish and maintain their own small business or agricultural enterprises by assigning such veterans suitable preferences to the extent feasible and consistent with the policies of this Act in the acquisition of the types of surplus property useful in such enterprises. The Administrator in cooperation with the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs shall prepare and submit to Congress within six months after enactment of this Act, a report setting forth the feasible means planned to effectuate the objectives of this subsection.

SMALL BUSINESS

SEC. 15. (a) It shall be the duty of the Administrator and he is hereby authorized and directed to devise ways and means and prescribe appropriate regulations and directives to prevent any discrimination against small business in the disposal and distribution and use of any Government property covered by this Act. that end the administrator shall cause the owing and disposal agencies to adopt and pursue the following measures:

To

(1) Arrange for the widest practicable notice by the advertisement or otherwise to be issued and disseminated by the agencies so that large and small enterprises will be reasonably informed of the property offered for sale and the terms and conditions thereof.

98534-44-pt. 12-2

(2) Reduce lots or blocks of any items offered for sale to the smallest practicable units conforming with marketing policy in the agency concerned so that they will be within the reach of small business enterprises.

(3) In appropriate cases in the discretion of the agency or the Administrator, arrange for sales on credit or time bases, or such other terms or conditions as will preserve the competitive position of small business enterprises in the purchase or acquisition of surplus property and accord them a fair opportunity for the acquisition thereof.

(b) Subject to the authority of the Administrator, the Smaller War Plants Corporation is hereby specifically charged with the responsibility of cooperating with the owning and disposal agencies, of making surveys from time to time, and bringing to the attention of the agencies, or the Administrator, the needs and requirements of small business and any cases or situations which have resulted in or would effect discrimination against small business in the purchase or acquisition of Government property by them and in the disposal thereof by the agencies.

(c) The Administrator shall recommend to the Congress any measures which he deems advisable for the removal of discriminations against small business in the acquisition and use of Government-owned plants and properties, in accordance with the objectives of this Act.

(d) The Smaller War Plants Corporation shall have the power to purchase any surplus property for resale or other disposition to small business, when, in its judgment, such disposition is required to preserve and strengthen the competitive position of small business, or will assist the Corporation in the discharge of the duties and responsibilities imposed upon it under Public Law 603 (77th Congress).

DISPOSITION OF PLANTS

SEC. 16. Whenever the Administrator or any disposal agency shall begin negotiations for the sale or transfer to private interests of a plant or plants or other property representing an original cost to the Government of $1,000,000 or more, the Administrator or disposal agency shall promptly notify the Attorney General of the proposed sale or transfer and the probable terms or conditions thereof. Within a reasonable time after receiving such notification the Attorney General shall advise the Administrator or disposal agency whether the proposed sale or transfer will either violate the antitrust laws, or encourage monopoly or undue concentration of industry or commerce or restrain competition substantially. Upon the request of the Attorney General, the Administrator or other Government agency shall furnish or cause to be furnished such information as the Administrator or any such agency may possess which the Attorney General determines to be appropriate or necessary to enable him to give the advice called for by this section or to determine whether any other sale or transfer of surplus property violates the antitrust laws. Nothing in this Act shall impair, amend, or modify the antitrust laws or limit and prevent their application to persons who buy or otherwise acquire property under the provisions of the Act. As used in this section, the term "antitrust laws" includes the Act of July 2, 1890 (ch. 26, Stat. 209), as amended; the Act of October 15, 1914 (ch. 323, 38 Stat. 730), as amended; the Federal Trade Commission Act; and the Act of August 27, 1894 (ch. 349, secs. 73, 74, 28 Stat. 570), as amended.

SEC. 17. Every contract for the sale, or lease for two years or more, of a plant shall be made upon the condition that the purchaser, lessee, or transferee, and their transferees, if any, shall maintain the plant in substantial operation and production for a period of two years next succeeding the effective date of the contract, or, next succeeding the date upon which operations begin after a period of conversion and alteration to be approved by the Administrator, but not to exceed one year, and that upon breach of such condition, the Government may rescind the contract and upon return of so much of the consideration as shall be equitable, recover the plant.

SEC. 18. Every existing option to purchase or otherwise acquire Governmentowned property shall before it is consummated be submitted to the Attorney General for his opinion as to its validity. Where an option is invalid or not validly exercised, the property concerned shall be disposed of in accordance with the applicable provisions of this Act.

SEC. 19. All Government-owned accumulations of strategic minerals and metals shall be transferred, when determined to be surplus pursuant to this Act, to the account of the Treasury Procurement Division to be held as a strategic minerals and metals reserve for the exclusive use of the Army and the Navy for the national defense during the present war and in the event of a future war emergency. The

minerals and metals may be transferred in any form in which they are held, and they shall thereafter be put into forms best suited for storage and use for the national defense. As used in this section the phrase "strategic minerals and metals" means all minerals and metals included in either group A or group B of the list of strategic and critical materials determined upon by the Army and Navy Munitions Board on March 6, 1944, and shall include ores, concentrates, alloys, scrap, and partially and completely fabricated articles of which the principal components by value consist of such minerals and metals, but shall not include such fabricated articles as the Army and Navy determine are not suitable for their use in the form in which fabricated and which may be disposed of commercially at values substantially in excess of the market metal price of the component minerals and metals of such fabricated article or which the Administrator may choose to dispose of pursuant to sections 11 and 12 of this Act.

PLANNING

SEC. 10. (a) The Administrator, in cooperation with the appropriate Government agencies, shall prepare and submit to the Congress within six months after enactment of this Act, a report as to each of the following classes of Government owned property: (1) iron and steel plants and facilities; aluminum plants and facilities; (3) magnesium plants and facilities; (4) synthetic rubber plants and facilities; (5) aircraft plants and facilities; (6) chemical plants and facilities; (7) aviation gasoline plants and facilities; (8) shipyards; (9) transportation facilities; (10) radio and electrical equipment; (11) lands formerly used for farming; and (12) processes, techniques and inventions; and (13) any other class of property determined by the Administrator:

(A) Describing the amount, cost, and location of the property and setting forth other descriptive information relative to the use of the property that will no longer be needed by the United States.

(B) Outlining the economic problems that may be created by disposition of the property.

(C) Setting forth a plan or program for the care and handling, disposition, and use of the property consistent with policies and objectives set forth in this Act.

(D) Describing any steps already taken for care and handling, disposition, and use of the property (including any contracts relating thereto), and designating any property that is to be retained by the United States for war or national defense purposes.

The Administrator shall request Government agencies to submit information and suggestions for use in the preparation of the reports and shall encourage States or political divisions thereof and representatives of the affected industry and other private persons to submit information for use in the preparation of the reports, and he shall submit to the Congress, together with his report, copies of any information and suggestions received, or a summary thereof. Unless otherwise provided by law, the Administrator shall authorize such care and handling, disposition, and use of the property in accordance with the plan or program contained in the report to the Congress. In the event that it is not possible to prepare and submit a final report to the Congress as to any class of property, the Administrator shall submit an interim report six months after the enactment of this Act, and shall submit a final report as soon thereafter as possible.

(b) If the Administrator determines that it is desirable to alter or change any such plan or program or to prepare a report on any other class of property, he shall prepare in accordance with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section and submit to the Congress an additional report, setting forth the altered or changed plan or program or a plan or program relating to the new class of property, and, unless otherwise provided by law, the Administrator shall authorize such management, disposition, and use of the property in accordance with the plan or program contained in the additional report to the Congress.

Wherever the Administrator may deem it to be in the interest of the objectives of this Act he may dispose of any property referred to above in advance of the preparation of any plan or before he may have submitted same to Congress.

MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

SEC. 21. Surplus property disposals may be made without regard to any provision in existing law for advertisement and competitive bidding, unless the Administrator shall determine that disposal by advertisement and competitive bid will in a given case better effectuate the policy of the Act.

SEC. 22. (a) All proceeds from any transfer or disposition of property under this Act shall be deposited and covered into the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts, except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), and (e) of this section.

(b) From the proceeds of such transfers or dispositions, the agency may deduct all expenses incurred for the care and handling, completion, and transfers or dispositions of such property under this Act, and may reimburse the fund or appropriation bearing such expenses, or the corresponding fund or appropriation currently available at the time of reimbursement.

(c) Where the property transferred or disposed of was acquired by the use of funds either not appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury or appropriated from the general fund of the Treasury but by law reimbursable from assessment, tax, or other revenue or receipts, then upon the request of the interested agency, the proceeds of the disposition or transfer remaining after any deductions under subsection (b) of this section shall be credited to the reimbursable fund or appropriation or paid to the owning agency.

(d) To the extent authorized by the Administrator, any Government agency disposing of property under this Act (1) may deposit, in a special account with the Treasurer of the United States, such amount of the proceeds of such dispositions as it deems necessary to permit appropriate refunds to purchasers when any disposition is rescinded or does not become final, or payments for breach of any warranty, and (2) may withdraw therefrom amounts so to be refunded or paid, without regard to the origin of the funds withdrawn.

(e) Where a contract or subcontract authorizes the proceeds of any sale of property in the custody of the contrator or subcontractor to be credited to the price or cost of the work covered by such contract or subcontract, the proceeds of any such sale shall be credited in accordance with the contract or subcontract and shall not be subject to subsection (a) of this section.

SEC. 23. (a) Any Government agency is authorized to use for the disposition of property under this Act and for its completion, care, and handling, pending such disposition, any funds heretofore or hereafter appropriated, allocated, or available to it for such purposes or for the purpose of production or procurement of such property.

(b) Any Government agency is authorized to use for the acquisition of any surplus property under this Act any funds heretofore cr hereafter appropriated, allocated, or available to it for the acquisition of property of the same kind.

(c) There are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary or appropriate for administering the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 24. All policies and procedures relating to surplus property prescribed by the Surplus War Property Administration, created by Executive Order Numbered 9425, dated February 19, 1944, or any other Government agency, in effect upon the effective date of this Act, and not inconsistent with this Act, shall remain in full force and effect unless and until superseded by regulations of the Administrator in accordance with this Act.

SEC. 25. (a) Nothing in this Act shall limit or affect the authority of commanders in active theaters of military operations to dispose of property in their control.

(b) The provisions of this Act shall be applicable to dispositions of property within the United States and elsewhere, but the Administrator may exempt from some or all of the provisions hereof, dispositions of property located outside of the continental United States or in Alaska, whenever he deems that such provisions would obstruct the efficient and economic disposition of such property in accordance with the objectives of this Act.

SEC. 26. A deed, bill of sale, lease or other instrument purporting to transfer title or any other interest in surplus property under this Act, which is executed by or on behalf of the Administrator, or by the Government agency to which the Administrator shall have assigned such surplus property for disposal, shall be conclusive evidence of compliance with the provisions of this Act so far as the title or other interest of any bona fide purchaser or lessee, as the case may be, is concerned.

SEC. 27. (a) The authority conferred by this Act is in addition to any authority conferred by any other law and shall not be subject to the provisions of any law inconsistent herewith. This Act shall not impair or affect any authority for the disposition of property under any other law, except that the Administrator may prescribe regulations to govern any disposition of surplus property under any such authority to the same extent as if the disposition were made under this Act, whenever he deems such action necessary to effectuate the objectives and policies of this Act.

(b) Nothing in this Act shall impair or affect the provisions of the Emergency Price Control Act of 1942, as amended; or the Act of October 2, 1942 (ch. 578, 56 Stat. 765), as amended; or of section 301 of the Second War Powers Act, 1942; or of the Act of March 11, 1941 (55 Stat. 31), as amended; or Acts supplemental thereto, or of any law regulating the export of property from the United States. SEC. 28. This Act may be cited as the "Surplus War Property Act”.

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 29. As used in this Act

(a) The term "Government agency" means any executive department, board, bureau, independent commission, or other agency in the executive branch of the Federal Government, and any corporation wholly owned and controlled by the United States.

(b) The term "owning agency" means a Government agency having control of property at or before the time when it is determined to be surplus to the needs and responsibilities of that agency.

(c) The term "disposal agency" means any Government agency designated under this Act to handle disposition of one or more classes of surplus property. (d) The term "property" means any interest in property, real or personal, owned by the United States or any Government agency, including, but not limited to, plants, facilities, equipment, machinery, accessories, parts, assemblies, products, commodities, materials, and supplies of all kinds, whether new or used, and wherever located.

(e) The term "surplus war property" or "surplus property" means any property which has been determined to be surplus to the needs and responsibilities of the owning agency in accordance with section 9 of this Act.

(f) The term "contractor inventory" means (1) any property related to a terminated contract of any type with a Government agency or to a subcontract thereurder (except any machinery or equipment subject to a separate contract or contract article specifically governing its use or disposition); and (2) any property acquired under a cost-plus-a-fixed-fee contract and in excess of the amounts needed to complete performance thereunder; and (3) any property which the Government is obligated to take over under any type of contract as a result of any change in the specifications or plans thereunder.

(g) The term "care and handling" includes repairing, converting, rehabilitating, operating, maintaining, preserving, protecting, insuring, storing, packing, handling, and transporting.

(h) The term "option" means any contractual right to retain or acquire any property at a price and upon terms prescribed or determined by the contract. (i) The term "person" means any individual, corporation, partnership, firm, association, trust, estate, or other entity.

(j) The term "State" includes the several States, Territories, and possessions of the United States, and the District of Columbia.

(k) The term "tax-supported institution" means any scientific, literary, educational, public-health, or public-welfare institution which is supported in whole or in part through the use of funds derived from taxation by the United States, or by any State or political subdivision thereof.

(1) "Disposal" or "disposition" means sale, conditional sale, or lease, for cash, credit, or other property; donation; or any other transfer.

Senator MURRAY. The first statement this morning will be received from Senator Stewart.

STATEMENT OF HON. TOM STEWART, UNITED STATES SENATOR FROM THE STATE OF TENNESSEE

Senator STEWART. Mr. Chairman, Senator Taft and I are going to share the time that might be allotted to the consideration of the Small' Business Subcommittee's bill. He has not arrived yet. I believe he will be here in the next few minutes.

Mr. Chairman, I have a prepared statement here that, with the consent of the committee, I will place in the record in the interest of time, because I understand we have only about 50 minutes here this.